I speak and write about investor protection, money management, health economics, ecology and social issues. My latest book is "Keynes's Way to Wealth," a revealing look inside the successful portfolios of the world's most famous economist. All told, I've written 14 books including The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome and iMoney: Profitable ETF Strategies for Every Investor and write a column for Reuters.com. I speak across the U.S. and my writing also appears in the New York Times, Morningstar.com and other national publications. This blog delves into financial and social deceptions.

Taking a Monty Python Retirement

Suppose, like the members of the comedy troupe Monty Python, you chose not to retire? It’s one option.

We’re not talking silly walks, dead parrots or Holy Grail signs here. I’m referring to a number of options that loosely fall under the category “un-retirement.”

According to MGM Advantage, a retirement income specialist based in the UK, more and more people are “looking to adopt a more flexible approach to work in older age.”

“Our research shows that we should perhaps look to retire the word ‘retirement’,” according to Andrew Tully of MGM. “People today not only expect to be working longer, they want to, with a significant number hoping never to stop work at all. We expect to see a lot more people working way into their 70s in the future, just like the energetic Monty Python team.”

Silly walk (Photo credit: ♔ Georgie R)

So what would a Monty Python retirement look like? Mostly having more fun. Here are some ideas:

* A Phased Retirement. Instead of walking out the door and never re-entering the workplace, you gradually phase down your hours in the office over years. I know a man who works for a financial services firm who does that — and gets to travel in his non-work time. He has the blessing of his company.

* Project-Oriented Retirement. This is a more focused approach where you tell your employer specific projects you want to work on while cutting back your hours. You may even move to part-time or work in a remote or home office.

* Non-Profit Work. Many executives and managers never quite lose the yen for managing people and organizations, but may want to do it in a lower-stress environment. They move over to the non-profit sector, where they can do community work. They still fulfill their need to be in the workplace, but at a much lower level of engagement.

* Encore Careers. Many retirees are simply done with their profession or industry, so they move over to something that will still challenge them, but in a different way. I know a neurologist who stopped practicing medicine and managed money instead. He’s good at it and I suspect doesn’t miss fighting with insurance companies.

How you should make these decisions? First, decide whether your need to work is financial or related to your well being. Many retirees regret losing the flow and routine of work. Others may not have saved enough for retirement. Pouring money into your retirement kitty for a few more years is a solid idea — if that’s what you need to do.

“Clearly people are feeling the pinch, and worried about being able to retire when they’d like to,” Tully added. “In some sense, this is to be encouraged – people need to take an honest and realistic look at their finances before making the decision to retire.”

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